


Not 'It'

by hummerhouse



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Challenge Response, Games, Gen, ninja tag, unintended_consequences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24293488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hummerhouse/pseuds/hummerhouse
Summary: Disclaimer: The TMNT are not mine. No money being made.Word Count: 3,443 one shot 2k3Summary: Being the most laid back turtle didn't mean Mikey never fought the rules.  This time his insubordination gets him into trouble.Rated: PG-13~~Written for the TMNT Outdoor Activities - ABC Challenge hosted by the TMNT-AllStories group on DeviantArt.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 39





	Not 'It'

**Author's Note:**

> ~~Preview art by Nuo-Nos based on a concept we talked about many years ago.  
> 

“What the hell are ya’ looking for?” Raphael demanded as he walked into the kitchen.

Every one of the drawers, cabinets, and storage boxes were open. The larger cabinets had been divested of their contents, which were strewn about on every level surface, including the floor.

Michelangelo was perched precariously atop one of the counters, his toes just on the edge due to the amount of dishware that occupied the main surface. 

“Something sweet,” Mikey answered as he swept his hand over the top of the cabinets. “Eww! It’s dusty up here.”

He hopped down and wiped his hand on a towel. The entire time his eyes kept swiveling around the room.

Raph crossed his arms and grinned. “Ya’ ain’t gonna find anything. Ya’ know darn well that Leo threw it all out.”

“I was sure he’d miss something,” Mikey said, frowning. “I have a lot of hiding places.”

He glanced upwards and then broke into a grin. “I’ll bet he didn’t find the marshmallows I hid on top of the pipes. Give me a boost.”

Raph shook his head. “Forget about it. I was here when he climbed up there and cleaned out your pipe stash.”

Mikey placed a hand over his heart. “That’s it. I’m going to die. Make sure I have a large funeral and that you serve brownies. Why must we all suffer whenever Leo decides to go on a fitness craze?”

“You’re the only one suffering,” Raph said, stepping over and around the pots and pans that were lying on the floor. When he reached the refrigerator, he took out a bottle of water, noting that Mikey had disarranged the items in there as well. “Ya’ better clean this up and quick.”

There was a scowl on Mikey’s face as he contemplated the mess he’d made. “I should leave it for Leo to clean up. He’s the one that wants the extra exercise.”

“Speaking of which, don’t forget we’re heading over to that abandoned industrial park tonight for a game of ninja tag,” Raph said. “You’re probably gonna be it ‘cause Leo thinks the sweets are slowing ya’ down.”

Mikey’s cloudy expression brightened. “If I win, do you think he’ll let me have pie again?”

“Not if he sees this disaster area,” Raph said. “Ya’ know what his reaction is gonna be if he thinks you’re this desperate for junk food. He’ll decide you’re addicted and cut ya’ off for good.”

“He’s not the boss of me,” Mikey said with a pout.

Raph started laughing. “Let me know when you’re gonna say that to his face. I wanna be there.”

He was still laughing as he left the kitchen. Once he was out of sight, Mikey began to put away the dishes, muttering the entire time about ‘big brother mother hens’.

Taking everything out of its storage spot hadn’t consumed nearly the amount of time required to replace it all. Just as Mikey completed the task, his stomach growled.

“I know,” Mikey said, rubbing his stomach. “You’re hungry and fruit is not going to get the job done.”

He grabbed a banana anyway and began to absentmindedly eat, his mind wandering. He’d just taken the last bite when he remembered something. “Donny!”

Giggling to himself, he threw the banana peel towards the trash can and ignored the fact that he’d missed. Heading out of the kitchen, Mikey made straight for his brother Donatello’s lab.

Michelangelo wasn’t the only one in the lair with a sweet tooth. Don had been known to practically live off of coffee and a certain brand of cream filled chocolate cookies. Though he would travel to the kitchen for his coffee, Don usually kept his favorite snack close to hand.

Entering the lab, Mikey glanced around for his brother, fully prepared to beg for a handful of cookies. Don, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Certain that he wouldn’t mind sharing, Mikey set about searching for his brother’s cookie hiding place. He tried the desk first, then the area around the desk, and then the filing cabinets. Coming up empty handed, he moved on to the book cases, careful not to disturb things the way he’d done in the kitchen. He might need to resort to ‘borrowing’ from Don again and did not want to get on his bad side.

Still he couldn’t find the cookies and began to think that Leo had ignored the danger of upsetting the genius and had taken away his stash too. As a last resort, Mikey started exploring the various cabinets in the room. He was finding nothing but jars and bottles full of strange stuff until he worked his way around to a cabinet near the door.

There was an odd symbol painted on one of the doors, but Mikey figured that had been on there when Don scavenged it from the junkyard. The only thing Mikey really cared about was what he found inside.

Sitting on the shelf was a pie tin containing a pinkish colored filling that looked very much like the cherry tarts April had once made for them. She must have brought one with her on her last visit and Don had decided to hoard it.

It was almost with reverence that Mikey lifted it out of the cupboard and took a whiff of the filling. Though not as fresh smelling as the tart he’d sampled once before, the scent of sweetness was unmistakable.

There was no way he was going to risk carrying the tart through the lair to the kitchen just to get a plate and fork. Leo had a freakish internal radar when it came to things like that and he’d be out of his room and on top of Mikey in ten seconds flat.

Since he was sure that Donatello would forgive him, and too desperate to actually care, Mikey dug his fingers into the tart and pulled out a palm-sized chunk. He stuffed the entire piece into his mouth, his eyes rolling back as the taste of sugar hit his tongue.

It wasn’t as sweet or fresh tasting as April’s previous tarts, but Mikey was so sugar starved he didn’t care. He swallowed his first mouthful and dug in for a second.

Mikey was chewing his second bite when the door opened and Don walked in, wearing his lab coat. His eyes grew wide when they landed on his younger brother and Mikey tried to turn his body to shield the fact that he’d helped himself to the cherry tart Don had hidden.

Clutching the top of his head, Donatello cried out, “Mikey, no!”

Feeling extremely guilty, Mikey started to slide the tart back into the cabinet. Don darted forward, taking the pan out of his hands and carefully placing it on the shelf.

“Sorry, I’m sorry, I just wanted something . . . .” Mikey began.

Don grabbed his arm and practically dragged him over to a chair. “Sit down! How do you feel? How does your mouth taste? Are you dizzy?”

“My mouth? What’s going on?” Mikey asked, starting to feel a modicum of concern. “I wasn’t eating your gross chemicals, Donny, just a little of April’s cherry tart.”

“That wasn’t April’s cherry tart,” Don said, snatching up his trash can and holding it under Mikey’s face. “Spit out anything that’s still in your mouth.”

There was nothing left in there since Mikey had swallowed quickly when his brother had burst into the room, but he spit anyway. “I’m not dizzy,” Mikey said. “My stomach feels fine. What did I eat?”

“I was experimenting with a food additive that would attract and humanely destroy vermin,” Don said. “I’m tired of the rats eating the cables I’ve strung through the tunnels.”

“Food addit . . . you mean poison!” Mikey shouted. He immediately began swiping at his tongue and spitting into the trash can. “Do something!”

“Stay right there,” Don instructed before running from the room.

He returned with his medical kit and used the stethoscope to listen to Mikey’s heart rate. Don next checked Mikey’s blood pressure, before returning to the stethoscope and having his brother inhale and exhale.

Nodding, Don slung the stethoscope over his neck and grabbed his pen light to look into Mikey’s eyes to see if his pupils were enlarged. He felt his skin texture next, the whole time staring at his brother as if he expected to see him grow a second head.

“Count backwards from fifty,” Don said, his eyes still fixed on Mikey’s face.

Mikey did so, watching Don closely for some indication as to what the genius was thinking. If Don had shown any sign of alarm, Mikey was going to panic and start screaming.

Instead, when Mikey completed his countdown, Don sighed with relief. “Other than the fact that you were stupid enough to eat something out of a cabinet marked with a biohazard label, you don’t appear to be suffering from an altered mental state.”

“How was I supposed to know what those squiggly lines meant?” Mikey asked defensively. “You store your cookies in here.”

“I don’t leave my cookies in any of these cabinets,” Don said. “When I have some, they’re in my desk drawer. I happen to be out, which you would have known if you’d asked.”

Mikey managed a sheepish grin. “I figured it was better to ask forgiveness . . . .”

Don held up a hand to stop him. “I’ve heard it before. I’m going to administer some activated charcoal orally, just to be on the safe side. Just promise me that you will never touch anything in my lab again.”

“I promise,” Mikey said, holding up both his hands. See, no crossed fingers.” As Don turned towards the door, Mikey added, “Please don’t tell anyone what I did.”

“You mean don’t tell Leo you were looking for sweets,” Don replied. “I won’t as long as you try to live with his rules for the next week.”

Mikey made a face at him. “Okay.”

A few hours passed with Mikey feeling none the worse for his misadventure. He spent the time wondering if Don would allow him to go with them to the industrial park and if not, what reason he’d give to Leo and Raph.

To show that he was on his best behavior, Mikey cooked dinner, making certain to include a healthy portion of vegetables. His plate, when he dished food onto it, was more than half filled with those same vegetables, drawing a look of surprise from Leo.

When it was nearing the time designated for their drive to the industrial park, Don pulled Mikey aside and asked how he felt. Mikey assured him that he wasn’t suffering from any nausea, or stomach upset, or dizziness, or any of the other dozen things Don asked about.

Mikey’s sense of relief was absolute when Leonardo called them together for the trip and Don said nothing. If there was one thing Mikey enjoyed, it was a good game of ninja tag, and he would have hated to miss out.

The industrial park hadn’t changed since their last visit and after jumping the fence they walked deep into the center of the complex. A few faint squeaking sounds reminded Mikey that this had at one time been the home of Bishop’s clone, who they had dubbed the Rat King.

No one was talking and the silence began to creep Mikey out. Walking backwards so that he could see his brothers, he asked, “So, when are we getting . . . .”

“Not it!” Leo sang out and darted to the left.

“Not it!” Raph said at almost the same time as he raced past Mikey.

“Not it!” Don shouted, running to the right.

“. . . started,” Mikey finished. In the time it had taken him to say that one word, his brothers had vanished.

The Turtles played a variation of traditional tag called ‘manhunt tag’ which was a mixture of hide and seek and tag. Mikey’s turn as ‘It’ would end once he’d successfully found and tagged each of his brothers.

Mikey groaned inwardly. Raph had warned him he’d probably be ‘It’ and if he’d paid attention, he could have shouted ‘not it’ before at least one of his three brothers. Their silence should have been a clue.

“All right, Mikey, you’ve got this,” he muttered to himself. “You know how they think. Just gotta get close enough to pounce before they notice me. This game will be over before they know what hit ‘em.”

Raph usually picked a hiding spot behind a wall or door. He wouldn’t go far because for him half the fun was in watching whoever was ‘It’ fumble around in the dark.

One good thing about being the first to be chosen ‘It’ was that Mikey could use footprints in the dirt and disturbed dust as clues. No one ever went into this abandoned area, so things like broken cobwebs and freshly dislodged rubble were useful in tracking the hiders.

Mikey went in the direction Raph had gone, trailing his footprints to the point where he’d veered to the left. From the discoloration in a pile of stones, Mikey could see that Raph had climbed over them to get into a building that had very few windows.

Feeling confident that Raph had chosen that place to hide, Mikey ran past the building, making just enough noise so that his brother would think he was moving away. Then Mikey circled around, keeping absolutely silent as he entered through a hole in the roof.

Dropping onto a rafter, Mikey looked around. He was surprised at how bright it was despite the lack of windows. _“Must be a full moon,”_ he thought.

There was movement below him and then Raph stepped into the open to grin up at him. “I see ya’! Not getting me that easily!”

With that taunt, Raph ran through a doorway and once more disappeared. Groaning in frustration, Mikey realized he must have skylighted himself and made a mental note not to make that mistake again.

Donatello was his next target. That particular brother liked getting in between objects, often places that looked on the outside to be too small for a mutant turtle to hide. There was a building that still contained some manufacturing machinery, along with conveyor belts and chutes that carried whatever they used to produce there.

Mikey instinctively knew that’s where he’d find Don. It took him a couple of minutes to reach the building, noting as he ran that it was only a quarter moon. That struck him as odd but then he decided there must have been reflective surfaces where Raph had been hiding.

The manufacturing building, as Mikey dubbed it, was not as quiet as other buildings on the site. There were numerous creaks and groans from the leftover equipment, sounds that in many ways, made it easier for both the pursuer and pursued.

There was a trail in the dust that Mikey could easily follow and he moved swiftly, darting from place to place on the path Don had taken. He’d obviously been looking for just the right hiding spot and it wasn’t long before Mikey located it as well.

He was tiptoeing towards his target when Don suddenly bounded out of hiding, jumped onto a large chute and ran up to an opening in the wall. Looking back at his startled younger brother, Don called out, “I see you! You’ll never catch me at this rate!”

With that he was gone. Mikey slammed a fist into his palm, aggravated that he’d gotten so close only to lose his prey at the last second. There was no way that Don could have seen him; Mikey had taken great care to move through deeply shadowed areas.

For a brief minute he toyed with the idea of going after either Raph or Don again. Leo had always been the hardest target to find for anyone who was ‘It’. Of the four of them, the oldest turtle brother was the absolute master of concealment.

That wasn’t to say he was completely unpredictable though. Leo had a preference for hiding overhead because people tended not to look up.

Backtracking to where they had started off, Mikey found Leo’s footprints in the soil and followed them. He had to go slower than with his other two brother’s because Leo was careful about where he put his feet and left very little sign. Fortunately, there was plenty of light to see by and Mikey reckoned that was due to a clear night sky.

Eventually Mikey did discover the building that Leo was probably hiding in. Determined to make his first tag, Mikey crept inside and immediately turned his eyes upwards.

The first thing he noticed was that it was bright inside this building too. Light shone all around him, illuminating even the darkest recesses.

“No fair, you guys!” Mikey shouted, sure that he was being pranked. “You’re not allowed to use flashlights!”

“We’re not using flashlights, Mikey,” Leo said, stepping into the open several yards in front of his brother.

“Haven’t needed them to see ya’ with,” Raph said, jumping down from an overhead beam.

“Sorry, Mikey, but I had to tell them what happened earlier,” Don said, walking into the room. “As soon as we got here the evidence of your misadventure was evident for all to see.”

“What are you talking about?” Mikey asked, scowling around at his brothers.

Leo pointed at him. “Look at your arm.”

“What’s wrong with my . . . .” He stopped partway through the question because when he lifted his arm, he saw that it was glowing. “Hey!”

He quickly checked his other arm and then his legs before swiveling his head to look back at his shell. Everything was glowing and seemed to be getting brighter by the minute.

“Donny! What’s happening to me?” Mikey began walking towards the genius, who backed away from him.

“Uh, uh, you’re still ‘It’,” Don said. “Not that you’re ever going to tag anyone with the way you’re glowing.

“I don’t even care!” Mikey wailed. “I concede the game. You all win and I lose. How do I make this stop?”

He tried rubbing at his skin, but the glow could not be removed. Now that he had conceded the game, his brothers walked over to him.

“I wasn’t just experimenting with a way to rid the tunnels of rats, but also a way to find the remains so that I could properly dispose of them. The sugary treat you consumed contained a fluorescent chemical meant to make the rats glow so that I could follow them to wherever they’d crawled off to,” Don explained.

“Looks like that part of the experiment worked,” Raph said with a laugh.

“It’s not funny,” Mikey told him.

“It actually is,” Leo said. “It’s also a really good lesson for you. This is the sort of thing that happens when you try to ignore my team directives.”

“Yeah, yeah, I told you so, blah, blah,” Mikey said. “You should know there has to be a happy medium with the whole sweets thing or I’m gonna try to find a way around it, so that makes this partly your fault too.”

“Then you should have approached me with a compromise rather than stuffing your face with mystery goo from Don’s lab,” Leo said, sounding altogether too complacent.

Mikey looked at Don, not wanting to hear anymore of Leo’s lectures. “What do I do to get rid of this? Take a bath in sea salts? Drink some sort of reverse glow-y concoction?”

“Reverse glow-y . . . no, Mikey. You can’t bathe it off or drink something to counteract the effect. It’s just going to have to wear off by itself,” Don said.

“Until it does, you’re grounded,” Leo said. “You can’t be a ninja if everyone can see you.”

“Grounded!” Mikey exclaimed. “I hate being grounded as much as I hate not having anything sweet in the lair.”

Raph slung an arm over his shell as they all started walking back to the Battle Shell. “Look at it this way, Mikey. Ya’ ain’t gonna need a flashlight to read your comic books in bed.”

“He’ll probably need to stay away from the TV though, his glow would bounce off the screen and we wouldn’t be able to see anything,” Leo said.

“Ha, ha. Listen to the funny turtles,” Mikey said dolefully.

As they continued to joke about his condition, Mikey began plotting his revenge. By tomorrow night, he wasn’t going to be the only turtle glowing in the dark.

Fin

**Author's Note:**

> My prompt challenge was "Glow in the Dark Tag"


End file.
